Really, what with the Tories passing Radical Reform Bills and the Church periodicals advocating Darwinianism, the millennium must be at hand.—A.R.W.
Down, Bromley, Kent, S.E. January 22, 1869.
My dear Wallace,—Your intended dedication pleases me much and I look at it as a great honour, and this is nothing more than the truth. I am glad to hear, for Lyell's sake and on general grounds, that you are going to write in the Quarterly. Some little time ago I was actually wishing that you wrote in the Quarterly, as I knew that you occasionally contributed to periodicals, and I thought that your articles would thus be more widely read.
Thank you for telling me about the Guardian, which I will borrow from Lyell. I did note the article in the Quarterly Journal of Science and put it aside to read again with the articles in Fraser and the Spectator.
I have been interrupted in my regular work in preparing a new edition[75] of the "Origin," which has cost me much labour, and which I hope I have considerably improved in two or three important points. I always thought individual differences more important than single variations, but now I have come to the conclusion that they are of paramount importance, and in this I believe I agree with you. Fleeming Jenkin's arguments have convinced me.[76]
I heartily congratulate you on your new book being so nearly finished.—Believe me, my dear Wallace, yours very sincerely,
CH. DARWIN.
9 St. Mark's Crescent, N.W. January 30, 1869.